


the first

by pinkocean



Category: HIStory 2: Crossing The Line
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 07:11:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14207889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkocean/pseuds/pinkocean
Summary: “What do you want to do right now?”





	the first

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this the other day, it's very short and not very good but hERE TAKE IT.

The air is stiff and hot. Zhen Wen sits, curled up on one side of the couch in his family living room, his step brother on the opposite side. He avoids Zhen Wu’s eyes at all costs, but he can feel the gaze of the other boy focusing on him every so often. The television across from them plays the news, but neither of them pay any attention, the sound only serving as filler for the empty silence. 

It had been a couple days since their explosive encounter on the roof where Zhen Wen’s feelings had been laid out and exposed. He couldn’t help the itch of his skin since then, the feeling of being left vulnerable, after having his most guarded secret revealed. 

Initially, he thought they had finally cleared the air, that now things could be worked out. However, slowly, the tension between him and his step brother grew as they continued to ignore what had happened. 

Now that their parents had left the two of them home alone together for the day, the question of what they meant to each other hung in the air heavier than ever. 

Zhen Wen picks at a loose thread that hangs off the fabric of his jeans, feeling awkward and suffocated in a room where so many questions remained unanswered. But he had promised Zhen Wu time. So he had no choice but to bask in the tension and wait for something to break. 

He decided to finally focus his attention on the television in front of him as a commercial for skin care played. He needed to keep himself distracted from the heavy gaze he felt coming from the other side of the couch. 

“Are we going to talk about this?”

The voice startles Zhen Wen out of his own thoughts. When he turns his head, the other boy is focused on him, waiting for an answer. For the first time in two days, Zhen Wen lets his eyes meet his step brother’s. The look makes him itch uncomfortably, so he pulls his focus back to an empty spot of the wall across the room.

“You said you needed time,” his voice is soft and wary.

Zhen Wu shifts himself over until he sits no more than a foot away from his step brother. Zhen Wen is immediately filled with the impulse to run away, but he keeps his position.

“I do, but… we can’t keep ignoring it like this.” 

Zhen Wen’s hand falls back to the stray thread, tugging and twisting it around his index finger, not sure what else to do with his hands. He doesn’t know what to say, his mind jumbled with a million thoughts.

“I don’t like when you ignore me like this. Just… tell me what you’re thinking? Please?” Zhen Wu requests, his voice is gentle, as if he’s afraid to say something that will just push the other boy further away.

“I don’t know what you want me to say. You heard me the first time, you know how I feel.” Zhen Wen can feel himself getting frustrated, with himself, with his step brother, with the whole situation. The feeling chokes him and makes the instinct to run stronger.

He keeps his eyes down at his lap where the loose thread has been wound so tightly around his finger that it’s turned a bright red and starts to go numb. 

“We’ll never work anything out if you keep avoiding questions an-”

“I like you so much,” Zhen Wen interrupts Zhen Wu aggressively, “It hurts. There’s nothing I can do about it.” His voice is firm and tinged with a little bit of anger. He tries not to get too emotional but there’s a sharp sting in his eyes as they redden and begin to water.

“You said you need time but you can take all the time in the world and nothing will change. Our parents will still be married, we’ll still be brothers.”

He manages to keep himself from shedding any tears, but he can feel the stinging of his eyes spread to begin forming a headache. He feels the weight next to him shift closer and an arm drape around his shoulders, pulling him into Zhen Wu’s chest. His first instinct is to push his step brother away but the warmth of the boy’s body is comforting. He notices the smell of detergent on Zhen Wu’s shirt as he inhales against the fabric. 

“I don’t want us to be miserable anymore,” Zhen Wu mumbles, chin resting on top of the younger boy’s head. 

Zhen Wen pulls himself out of his step brother’s embrace, avoiding eye contact. “What are we supposed to do then?”

“We should just… do what we want, what feels right and… see what happens then.”

But, Zhen Wen thinks, everything he wants feels so far away and unattainable.

“What do you want to do right now?”

Zhen Wu doesn’t hesitate for a moment. “I want to kiss you.”

The words pull Zhen Wen’s eyes from his lap until they meet Zhen Wu’s. He notices the older boy’s gaze fall lower, to his mouth. The stare burns and slowly, the tension between them melts into something less heavy and more soft, wanting. 

There’s a tug of energy that drags Zhen Wen to inch closer until the two of them have their noses almost bumping into each other. Zhen Wu’s eyes drift upward so that they’re staring at each other, it causes the thudding in Zhen Wen’s chest to become faster. He can feel his heartbeat in his throat. The mumble of the television has long been ignored.

They stay like that for a moment, breathing in each other’s air and focusing on nothing but each other. Finally, Zhen Wen’s eyes flutter closed as he tilts his head to an easier angle and pushes himself forward until their mouths meet. The kiss is timid, like they’re both afraid of what could happen if they let themselves fall into it any more. 

Zhen Wen feels his pulse smooth out and slow down to an even beat. This is the moment he’s experienced so many times in his dreams, in so many different ways. 

He finds that he likes the reality better.


End file.
